Wednesday, October 09, 2013

I love soft pretzels. And since it is October.... and Oktoberfests everywhere are serving pretzels, I figured it was time to get some onto our table. I made them small {miniature} for easier portion control. Which doesn't necessarily mean that I didn't have a second {or third} mini soft pretzel....

Mini Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk

1 package dry active yeast

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, plus a pinch or two more

8 tablespoons butter, melted and divided

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups bread flour

2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups very hot water

2 tablespoons baking soda

Nonstick spray

Coarse sea salt

Directions:

In a large, non-reactive bowl, heat the milk in the microwave until lukewarm, about 110 degrees. Add the yeast, stir, and let it activate, about 3 minutes.

Next add the confectioners’ sugar and 4 tablespoons of the butter and stir to combine.

Sift together the salt, bread flour, and all-purpose flour. Add to the yeast mixture and knead for about 8-10 minutes, using either the hook attachment of a stand mixer or your hands. Add the dough to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm, moist environment until double in size, about 1 hour.

After the dough has risen, divide it into 24 equal portions. {If you want larger pretzels, divide into 12 equal portions.}

Roll each portion out into a long, thin rope, and twist into pretzel shapes. {This is easier if you roll your ropes such that the ends have a thinner diameter than the middle of the ropes.}

Preheat the oven to 425F degrees.

Dissolve the baking soda into the very hot water and lightly oil 2 silpat covered baking sheets. Take each pretzel and dip it into the baking soda-water bath and then place, seam side down, onto the oiled baking sheets, about 12 to each sheet.

Sprinkle each pretzel with coarse sea salt and bake in the oven until golden brown and puffy, about 10 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees halfway through the baking.

While the pretzels are baking ,melt the last 4 tablespoons of butter. Add a pinch or 2 of the confectioners' sugar to the butter and stir. Dip the salted side of each pretzel into the butter when they're done baking and serve.

These are soft, chewy, buttery and salty. Serve them warm or cold {though in our house they never last long enough to get very cool!}. You'll get rave reviews!